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Rate and Review: "The Spy Who Learned Me" (PABF13)

May 6, 2012: The Spy Who Learned Me (PABF13)Marge and Homer go on a date, but Marge is embarrassed when Homer talks during the movie; when Homer gets hurt and can't work for six weeks, he tries to learn how to be a better husband from a man (Bryan Cranston) he believes is a movie star.

3/5, B. I laughed a couple of times, but not enough to give this a 4. I liked the Super Size Me parody, but that character is ANNOYING.
The Homer and Marge marriage trouble storyline just doesn't interest me anymore. The Nelson B-plot was better then the A-plot.

ACT TWO:
Homer threw his shoes to the right of the house and we hear Flanders, but Flanders lives to the left of the house? Huh?
(Edit: Could be someone other than Flanders, but obviously voiced by Harry Shearer.)
Eric Idle came back for a cameo... but I'm asking why at this point.
"Tic-Tac-Toe: X vs. O" from the episode "The Squirt and the Whale" on the TV in Moe's
Oh... so that's why Declan Desmond is being used. Meh.
Nelson wants Bart's lunch money, which Bart has obviously already spent on lunch?
Fat Nelson is funny, I'll admit that.
I'm not into Bryan Cranston's character at all.
Wow. Lenny's voice sounds off during the interaction with Marge. Guess Harry must have been having some problems during the record for this episode.
(Honestly, I've lost interest in the episode at this point.)

ACT THREE:
Marge doesn't realize that Homer said "The three of us" when there's only supposed to be her and Homer in the car?
(So many plot problems this week.)

ACT FOUR:
Oh great. The FOX football robot was a real Family Guy-esque moment.... ugh.
I did giggle at the return of Nelson.

Okay. Not much to say this week. While I love Bryan Cranston as an actor, I just don't think he was a fit for the part. When I combine that with the issues I mentioned above, I think I'll give this one a 2.5/5, rounded down to a flat 2/5... for being a flat episode.

Standard Season 23 fare, nothing really outstanding.

Late Addition:
Anybody notice they passed Candy Most Dandy while in the car? I always loved that shop name, and enjoyed the use of it.

Last edited by Tubbb!; 05-06-2012 at 10:39 PM.
Reason: Now... with pictures!

Originally Posted by SpeedwaySquad

You liked this episode, I didn't. There's no need to get so worked up about it.

"In Rand McNally, they wear hats on their feet and hamburgers eat people!"

But what it became. Where is the series that I loved so much? I was expecting an episode not very good, but never anything as bad. This episode is barely better than Politically inept, with Homer Simpson. This episode was so boring and I laughed only once, during a gag not really funny. I am talking about when we see Bryan Cranston in the in the baby seat in the back of the car. For the story of Homer, I thought the writers could have done something very well, but ultimately it was very very bad. At the first appearance of Bryan Cranston, I would have thought we will only see him in the movie at the beginning of the episode and it would have been nice, but no, he follows Homer throughout the episode as an illusion . Moreover, this story really ends anyhow. I would have thought that this story could have saved the episode but finally, it was pretty bad. For the story of Bart, it is even worse than the one of Homer, this story really has no purpose and it's as bad as the story of Homer from beginning to end. In short, I will not dwell more on the critic of this episode. I do not know what to give between 1/5 and 1,25/5, but for now it leans more toward a 1/5.

I missed most of act 2 being called away for a family affair and the remainder of the episode was really only secondary on my mind, so I'm not gonna actually grade this until a re-watch hopefully tomorrow. I only found out Eric Idle was even in the episode thanks to the closing credits. What I did see though was pretty wacky and confusing from a story telling standpoint, but had several funny moments. Homer giving Lenny a high 5 from his passing car was good as was his slow, long laugh on the ride home. Obese Nelson was a funny sight gag and the Fox NFL robot was funny, went on too long, then got funny again when Homer said nobody likes him. So several funny moments which is good.

The actual story seemed pretty rushed though and I found myself just not getting interested in Homer and Marge's relationship as much as I'd hoped. I really hope it is just because I was distracted during most of this though. The spy character just didn't do it for me except his last line about his next appearance. The annoying Lemon/Lime guy was also dumb. Both plots just seemed to lazily go by for the most part, but that's more forgivable for the B plot I suppose...if you're willing to believe Nelson could get that fat/muscular that quickly. In fact that might be the problem I had with the pacing, eight or so weeks are supposed to go by but I saw no real indication of it leaving me confused. Lenny even says it has been six weeks but then Homer says he's a week overdue to go back to work on the same night? Seems like lazy writing.

I agree with whoever said it felt like a Scully episode, though not the worst of them. I hope it improves when I can settle down and actually give it my full attention.

PS: Lisa actually playing her Saxophone was a welcomed sight and her last line to end the episode got a smile too.

I don't wanna start deleting posts but this thread is already getting close to unreadable...

If you want episode review threads that aren't rife with people set out to declare the current week's episode as the worst abomination ever to befell the series since our favorite family first debuted on prime time over 25 years ago... you'll need to open up a new forum.

And, for Lisa Goes Gaga week, even that won't make a lick of difference. At least we know Tim Long episodes are reliably bad.

Yeah, this thread is pretty pathetic. C'mon guys, if you're going to hate the episode, make some insightful posts laying out WHY you hated it. Not just unreadable garbage. If you're not going to put any effort into a post, why even bother logging on and making a post?

Anyway, given how there have been some pretty wacky unbelievable episodes this season, I was glad that they at least gave a reason for the craziness. Bryan Cranston was entertaining, I liked his desire to watch Homer kissing Marge and him sitting in the baby seat. Also, Lenny was great this episode. Patiently awaiting "Lisa Gets a B+". Overall, episode made me laugh and it didn't anger me at all (unlike D'ohcial Network and Politically Inept). It totally did feel like a Scully episode, but at least it played out like an enjoyable Scully episode (yeah, a few of those existed). 3.5/5 rounded up. One of the few season 23 episodes I'd gladly rewatch when it reairs.

Er, once Homer's babbling ceased during the first act, this episode set off on a nice pace of mindless fun. My only gripe is Nelson's weight problem should've been the main plot and the Homer's (actual) imaginary friend should've stayed in subplot territory.

A stupid episode good for some cheap laughs, unlike last week's POS (piece of ship). Eh...I'd give a 4/5 for Zombie Simpson standards.

Well, ya'know if you stay positive and forget about trivial things like "proper characterization," "Satire," and "emotional depth" watching new Simpsons episodes can be a seemingly enjoyable lie.

This episode was another typical marriage/love crisis between Homer and Marge with nothing interesting happening. I thought that the plot was boring and it never got going, nor did it create an amusing joke anywhere because of it's wacky

The b-plot was filler but I liked the documentary a little bit at least, but other than that it failed to deliver due it's wacky, over-the-top nature

A flat, boring episode with little redeeming qualities. A plot done to death with stupid ideas mixed together to make one bad episode.

It was okay. It was another marriage crisis plot - an epidemic in The Seemingly Neverending Series (that's what I'm gonna call the show from now on), but they thankfully didn't coast too much on that. I enjoyed seeing the return of Declan Desmond and Bryan Cranston did a great guest performance. The jokes were above average by Seemingly Neverending Series standards - I liked the guy who didn't get bothered by lemons, but got bothered by limes. But I don't rally think it was neccesary to bring him back after the joke with him was done. It just seemed really cheap. The subplot was okay, too, but I can't really say anything too much about it. Anyway, I give it a 3/5 (C-)

i just did it because i hate shakespeare so much. (jk haha)
i don't understand how this episode got such a bad reception. I used to think i was among the most cynical and critical of the simpsons fans but i guess not. I honestly think this was in the top 3 of the season, yeah the story's kinda been done before but there were actually solid jokes, a lot of them, no cringe-worthy-so-bad-i'm-ashamed-to-be-a-simpsons-fan jokes and the characterizations weren't bad at all.

and i gave it a 5/5 by post oakley/weinstein standards, not in terms of the entire series.